DACA deadline comes and goes as Dreamers stage protests

Pro DACA and Dreamer supporters chain themselves to each other outside the US Capital on March 5, 2018 in Washington, DC.

Pro DACA and Dreamer supporters chain themselves to each other outside the US Capital on March 5, 2018 in Washington, DC.

Photo: Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images For MoveOn.org

Photo: Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images For MoveOn.org

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Pro DACA and Dreamer supporters chain themselves to each other outside the US Capital on March 5, 2018 in Washington, DC.

Pro DACA and Dreamer supporters chain themselves to each other outside the US Capital on March 5, 2018 in Washington, DC.

Photo: Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images For MoveOn.org

DACA deadline comes and goes as Dreamers stage protests

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WASHINGTON — March 5 — the long-looming deadline for youthful immigrant Dreamers facing loss of legal status under Obama-era DACA protection — came and went with more of a whimper than a bang.

The Dreamers who became legal under President Obama’s 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals order staged a sit-down Monday on a major thoroughfare in the shadows of the U.S. Capitol.

And in Hartford, Connecticut Students for a Dream, representing the 8,000 or more immigrants in the state brought illegally to the U.S. as children, appeared alongside Sen. Richard Blumenthal to demand a solution.

“It’s heartbreaking,” Blumenthal said. “Thousands of Dreamers are being kept in limbo because President Trump decided to throw a bone to his base.”

Blumenthal was referring to Trump’s cancellation last September of the Obama DACA order, which effectively set the clock ticking down to March 5 when legal protections for the nation’s 700,000 or so Dreamers was set to expire. The legal status of 21,000 already has expired.

But even though Trump and Republican leaders on Capitol Hill expressed willingness to compromise on DACA, Congress last month failed to forge a solution.

Trump demanded funding for his long-promised border wall and an end to “chain migration” as conditions for extending DACA, poison pills for Democrats.

With no congressional majority forming around any single compromise plan, rounds of finger-pointing ensued. But crossfire appeared to be muted at least temporarily by court injunctions in New York City and San Francisco that stayed Trump’s cancellation and allowed Dreamers to submit renewals to the Department of Homeland Security.

The U.S. Supreme Court last month refused to consider an emergency petition submitted by the Trump administration, essentially stalling DACA as the underlying case to preserve it wends its way through the federal court system.

Advocates from Connecticut Students for a Dream argued DACA recipients should remain in the shadows, notwithstanding the likelihood of time-consuming court litigation. In the meantime, they argued, the state must step in and give Dreamers as much protection as the law allows.

“While Congress fails to act, we here in Connecticut say enough is enough and we demand that Connecticut take action to protect and support immigrant youth in” the state, campaign manager Camila Bortolleto said on Monday. “We are rising up to demand that ... House and Senate leaders support undocumented youth in Connecticut by equalizing access to college for immigrant youth in our state”

Trump placed the blame squarely on Democrats, accusing them of walking away from a deal that would have given both sides something to celebrate. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the lack of a compromise solution on Capitol Hill was “pathetic.”

"It’s March 5th and the Democrats are nowhere to be found on DACA," Trump tweeted. “Gave them 6 months, they just don’t care. Where are they? We are ready to make a deal!”

Sen. Chris Murphy countered that Trump was being disingenuous.

“Dreamers and their loved ones woke up this morning with pits in their stomachs, and there’s no one to blame but President Trump,” Murphy said in a statement. “I’ve met so many incredible Dreamers in Connecticut and all they want is a chance to work hard and make a future in the only country they’ve ever called home. It’s time for President Trump and Republicans in Congress to stop playing politics with their lives.”